Mixing containers



Aug. 18, 1959 J. DEBAT ET AL MIXING CONTAINERS Filed Dec. 23, 1957United States Patent MIXING CONTAINERS Jacques Debat, Saint-Cloud,Seine-et-Oise, and Andr Polgar, Paris, France; said Dehat assignor toSociete Anonyme des Laboratoires du Dr. Debat, Paris, France, a Frenchcompany Application December 23, 1957, Serial No. 704,369 3 Claims: 01.215-'6) When it is desired to use dispersions, solutions, mixtures,etc., which are liable to be subjected to deterioration with time, it isthe usual custom to prepare them as and when they are required.

In this connection, containers have already been proposed having twocompartments which are isolated from each other and which are only putinto communication at the moment of use. More particularly it has beenproposed to place in the interior of a closed container, containing forexample a liquid, a smaller receptacle carried by the stopper of thefirst and which can be perforated or broken with a needle or a strikerin order to empty its contents into the said liquid without having toremove the stopper of the large container. This arrangement leads tocomplications of construction which makes these double receptaclesrelatively expensive, and in certain cases brings the risk ofintroducing broken glass or other foreign non-sterile material into thefinal product.

The present invention has for its object an improvement in receptacleswith multiple compartments with a view, in particular, to simplify theoperation which is intended to put them into communication and, when sorequired, to cause the forcible projection of the contents of onecompartment into another by the very fact of this communication, whichgives rise toa turbulence favourable to the formation of the mixture.

A special feature of a receptacle constructed in accordance with theinvention is that it has a compartment which is isolated from theneighbouring compartment by a partition which can be removed by theeffect of pressure and which can be opened from the exterior, so that bykeeping this compartment under vacuum, it is only necessary to open itat the moment of use for the atmospheric pressure to cause at the sametime the separation of the partition and a projection of the contents ofthis compartment into the adjacent compartment.

In accordance with one of the forms of embodiment of the invention, thecompartment having a separable partition is a receptacle provided with aneck of small diameter intended to be engaged in the stopper of a largerreceptacle, for example a flask, so that this neck passes through to theexterior; the separable partition can be made integral with theremainder of the small receptacle, but is attached to it by a weakenedportion which is the first to break away, or it may be separate from thesmall receptacle and be fixed thereto so as to be capable of separationby the effect of pressure; in this latter case, the separable partitionmay be for example a stopper or eventually a cap, a capsule or a platefixed by an adhesive or in any like manner in order to close an orificeof the receptacle. More particularly, the small receptacle may be anampoule, the neck of which is closed by sealing.

The invention is of particular advantage in the preparation as requiredof solutions of medicinal substances such as antibiotics or otherbactericidal or bacteriostatic products, for putting ferments intocontact with fermentable liquids, etc. An additional advantage is thatthe substances contained respectively in the ampoule and in the2,900,100, Patented Aug. 18, 1959 ice in addition are protected fromoxygen and from the humidity of the air.

Thus, the invention is especially useful for the preparation of sterilesolutions of para-amino salicylic acid (PAS) in apyrogenic water.

Up to the present time, these solutions were prepared in advance andkept in bottles under vacuum after having been sterilised. Both duringthe sterilisation and during the preservation of these solutions of PAS,the solution was exposed to the risk of decomposition, with theconversion of a part of the PAS to meta-amino-phenol.

By virtue of the invention on the contrary, the apy-rogenic water andthe crystallised PAS can be sterilised without any contact, and in thisway the formation of aminophenol is avoided, since this formation doesnot take place in the solid phase.

As far as the bottle is concerned, the procedure is the same as up tothe present time. It is filled with apyrogenie water and is then putunder vacuum.

The ampoule is mounted by passing the neck through the stopper of thebottle so that its point passes out to the exterior, and so that theclosure member which seals its base is immersed in the water in thebottle. This ampoule is sealed-up after having been put under vacuum,which may be higher than the vacuum which remains in the bottle.

In order to form the solution, the point of the ampoule is broken, andthe latter is thus brought instantaneously up to atmospheric pressure.This pressure acts on the powder and on the closure plug, which areprojected into the solvent.

The description which follows below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings (which are given by way of example only and not in any sense byway of limitation) will make it quite clear how the invention may becarried into effect, the special features which are brought out, eitherin the drawings or in the text, being understood to form a part of thesaid invention.

The single figure is an axial cross-section of a bottle or flaskcarrying an ampoule constructed in accordance with the invention.

The bottle 1 containing a liquid up to the level 10 is closed by aplastic stopper 2, in which is inserted the neck 3 of an ampoule 4, thelatter being closed at its base by a separable partition shown in theform of a cap 5. The length and the amount of penetration of the neck ofthe ampoule into the stopper 2 are preferably chosen so that the cap 5is below the level 10 of the liquid. The ampoule contains at 6 asubstance to be distributed in the liquid and a vacuum is created in itbefore sealing-up the point 7.

When the point 7 is broken, the air admitted into the ampoule ejects thesubstance 6 and the cap 5 into the liquid of the bottle.

The bottle can then be used directly, after having been turned upsidedown, for the injection of the solution formed, if the latter is amedicinal solution, by means of the introduction of a needle into thestopper 2 for extraction of the liquid, the ampoule then carrying outthe function of an air-inlet tube. In this case of course, care is takento push in the ampoule far enough so that the liquid does not haveaccess to it when the bottle is turned upside-down.

In order that the neck of the ampoule may be pushed through the stopper2 by the desirable amount, a groove 8 may be provided on the neck 3 ofthe ampoule, as shown in the drawings, in which groove is engaged theedge of the opening made in the stopper.

It will of course be understood that modifications may be made to theform of embodiment which has just been described, more particularly bythe substitution of equivalent technical means, without therebydeparting from the spirit or firorn the scope of the present invention.

In particular, the ampoule 4, instead of being closed by sealing at 7,maybe closed at the same place by a fluid-tight cap, which only requirespiercing with a needle to cause the admission of air.

What we claim is:

l. The combination comprising a partially evacuated funnel-shaped rigidfrangible ampoulehaving a substanceenclosing enlarged body portion, anair-pressure removable cap hermetically sealing said body portion, saidbody portion tapering to an elongated stem portion, a manually severabletapered tip on the end of said stern portion; and an air evacuated,hermetically sealed receiving container for supporting said ampoule withsaid stem projecting outside said receiving container and said bodyportion projecting inside said receiving container.

2. The combination comprising a partially evacuated funnel-shaped rigidfrangible ampoule having an enlarged substance-enclosing body portion,said body portion tapering to an elongated stem portion, an aperture insaid body portion, an air-pressure removable sealing cap for saidaperture adapted to be pressure biased against the outer surface of saidenlarged body portion around said aperture, a manually severable taperedtip on the end of said stern portion; and a resilient ring-shapedsupporting member air-tightly surrounding said stem portion between saidtapered tip and said body portion; and an air evacuated receivingcontainer hermetically sealed at its opening by said supporting member,said ampoule being supported 4 by said supporting member with said sternprojecting outside said receiving container and said body portionprojecting inside said receiving container;

3. The combination comprising an air evacuated receiving container; anevacuated funnel-shaped rigid frangible ampoule in which a lowerpressure exists than in said receiving container, said ampoule having anopenended substance-enclosing enlarged body portion and an elongatedstern portion, said stem portion tapering to a closed manually severabletapered tip; a ring-shaped support member around said ampoule stemportion intermediate said tapered tip and said body portion, saidsupport member closing said receiving container in hermetically sealingrelation and supporting said ampoule with said body portion inside saidreceiving container and said tapered tip outside said receivingcontainer; and a sealing cap pressure-biased by the pressure in saidreceiving container to hermetically seal the open-ended body portion ofsaid ampoule and adapted to be automatically removed from said bodyportion upon the ingress of atmospheric air upon severance of saidmanually severable tapered tip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,644,821 Eckart Oct. ll, 1927 2,494,294 Greenburg Jan. 10, 1950 FOREIGNPATENTS 509,680 Belgium Mar. 31, 1952

